Campers, recreational vehicles, such as motor homes, some trailers, and other living units which can be moved from place to place usually require an auxiliary source of fuel for utilities. While some recreational vehicles which are located in mobile home parks on a semipermanent basis may be connected to sources of natural gas and/or electricity supplied by local utilities, most such vehicles use liquefied propane or butane or a mixture thereof as a source of fuel for the living unit. These liquefied petroleum gases (LPG) may be stored in large tanks of several hundred gallons, or may be obtained in standard sized portable containers of 5, 10, or 20 gallons. Specifications of these containers are prescribed by Federal law. These tanks may be stored at various locations inside or outside of the vehicle; however, many of the built-in storage installations are inherently unsafe.
In many cases, especially during times of heavy LPG usage, storage space for additional LPG bottles is highly useful. In view of the efficiently designed interiors of most mobile homes resulting in a minimum of unused space, there is usually insufficient storage space inside for extra LPG containers. In addition, a potential safety hazard may result from inside storage of these bottles. Accordingly, attempts have been made to build brackets or supports outside of the vehicle to hold the extra bottles. Many times these supports are adequate when the vehicle is stationary; however, some problems have been encountered with LPG containers coming loose or falling from outside supports onto the road while the vehicle is in motion.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an LPG bottle holder which can be mounted on the outside wall of a mobile home or other recreational vehicle, either as original equipment or as an add-on, which is compact but structurally strong.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an LPG bottle holder which firmly secures the bottle such that it can remain in place on the outside of a moving vehicle without danger of the bottle falling off of the holder.